Powerhouse has unveiled the program for Sydney Design Week 2025, set to run from 12-24 September across the city. Now in its 29th year, the design festival returns with the theme 'Community Design', spotlighting how design can foster connection, resilience and cultural identity in a changing world.
This year's program places people at the heart of design, bringing together renowned national and international architects, artists and creative leaders through a dynamic lineup of talks, tours and industry workshops. The festival also deepens its engagement with Western Sydney, working with community leaders and local practitioners to shape a program that reflects the region's distinct contemporary culture.
The festival will open with a public conversation featuring Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré, co-director of Incidental Architecture Daina Cunningham, and Western Sydney high school students. Together, they'll explore how sustainable design can transform schools into inclusive and culturally resonant environments. Kéré's work, celebrated for responding to heat, climate, and community, sets the tone for a festival deeply rooted in public and environmental design.
Other major highlights include a keynote by Open Architecture, the Beijing-based studio led by Li Hu and Huang Wenjing, known for their ecologically sensitive approach to public space. Their keynote at the UTS Great Hall will examine how architecture can reconnect people with nature and one another.
Acclaimed Dutch architectural photographer Iwan Baan - renowned for capturing the interplay between built environments and daily life - will also speak, offering rare insights into a practice that has documented projects by both Kéré and Open.
Other speakers include Thai landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom, professor Elizabeth Mossop of Living Lab Northern Rivers, Phillip Birtles from Sydney Water, and CHROFI director John Choi, drawing on case studies from Bangkok, New Orleans and Sydney.
Powerhouse chief executive Lisa Havilah said, "Sydney Design Week 2025 celebrates the power of design to bring people together. This year's program highlights the role communities play in shaping public spaces, and how design can respond to place, climate and culture in meaningful ways."
